Analysis: The NFL's 'Rooney rule' was meant to bring diversity to the league's coaching ranks, but it's not working
January 9, 2020
BLOOMBERG
Last year, in the wake of Oakland's search, the NFL tightened the Rooney rule, now requiring that teams interview ethnic minority candidates from outside their organization, Lapchick said. One option to further improve the process would be to expand the Rooney rule to cover hiring for offensive and defensive coordinator positions; those often lead to a head coaching position.
The top source of head coaches in the NFL is the offensive coordinator position, with about 40% of head coaches ascending from that job, according to a Dec. 30 report from the Global Sport Education and Research Lab at Arizona State University that looked at trends from the 2009 season through the end of the 2018 season. During that time, 91% of offensive coordinators hired were white, the study found.